Chestnut Lodge

Coordinates: 39°5′5.3″N 77°9′45.5″W / 39.084806°N 77.162639°W / 39.084806; -77.162639
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For the place in Cheshire, see Chestnut Lodge, Widnes.

Chestnut Lodge (formerly known as Woodlawn Hotel) was a historic building in Rockville, Maryland, United States, well known as a psychiatric institution. Located at 500 W Montgomery Avenue,[1] it was a contributing property to the West Montgomery Avenue Historic District.[2]

Chestnut Lodge Postcard dated 1909
Hand colored photographic postcard of Chestnut Lodge Sanitorium postmarked 1909

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

In 1886, Charles G. Willson commissioned an architect to build a four-story brick "summer boarding house" on 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land he had purchased in the west of Rockville. During the construction of the building, Willson filed for bankruptcy, and the unfinished building was bought for $6,000 by Mary J. Colley (the owner of the Clarendon Hotel in Washington, D.C.) and her partner Charles W. Bell. Under their ownership, the building was opened as the Woodlawn Hotel in the spring of 1889. The hotel boasted electric bells, gas lighting, and 40 luxurious guest rooms. Catering to rich visitors from Washington who boarded in the hotel during the summer months, it was initially quite successful.

In 1900, town officials refused to allow the Washington & Rockville Railway to begin operating streetcars until the company fulfilled its agreement to extend tracks from Courthouse Square west to the hotel.[3]

After a decade or so of prosperity, however, the fortunes of the Woodlawn Hotel declined as many of its semi-permanent residents moved into new houses in Rockville. In 1906, the hotel's owners were heavily in debt and were forced to sell the building and grounds at public auction.

Psychiatric hospital[edit]

The hotel was purchased by Ernest Luther Bullard (1859–1931), a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a surgeon and professor of psychiatry and neurology. Bullard renovated the building and re-opened it in 1910 as a sanatorium for the care of nervous and mental diseases, renaming it Chestnut Lodge after the 125 chestnut trees that grew on the grounds.

For many years, Bullard was the sole physician working at the Lodge, but over the next 75 years a total of three generations of the Bullard family operated the private hospital. Many nationally renowned therapists, including psychoanalytic psychiatrist Clarence Edward Bunge, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann,[4][5] Wayne Fenton,[6] Thomas McGlashan,[7] Harold Searles,[8] and Otto Allen Will Jr., worked at the hospital over the years. The hospital was the site for a series of influential studies on the long-term treatment outcome for psychiatric conditions, known as the Chestnut Lodge studies.[7][9][10]

In the 1950s and 1960s, innovative dance therapist Marian Chace had regularly scheduled sessions with groups of patients. Judith Richardson Bunney followed her in this work. In the 1960s and 1970s, Donn B. Murphy conducted a drama group for patients. One of the core therapeutic features of Chestnut Lodge was to encourage the individuality of both patient and staff. This was found to have stimulated creativity and both groups benefitted by overcoming pressures to conform.[11]

The psychiatric work performed at Chestnut Lodge was detailed in the 1954 book, "The Mental Hospital." The book provides insight into both the positive and negative aspects of mental health treatment at the time. Written by three psychiatrists, the work delves into many of the factors influencing patient and staff interaction.[12]

In 1980, Rafael Osheroff, a nephrologist and father of three, sued Chestnut Lodge for negligence. In his complaint, Osheroff claimed that "the staff failed to prescribe drugs and instead treated him according to the psychodynamic and social model.”[13] The lawsuit was settled in 1987 by an agreement between the two parties.[14][15]

In 1997, the lodge was purchased by CPC Health,[16] then was obtained by the Washington Waldorf School in 2001 when CPC Health declared bankruptcy.[17] In December 2003, the property was conveyed to Chestnut Lodge Properties, Inc.

Intended Conversion to condominiums[edit]

In 2008, zoning officials approved a plan to convert the main building to condominiums and build upscale housing nearby.[18] The grove of chestnut trees and some original building façades were to be preserved.

Around 3 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, 2009, the unoccupied structure caught fire and collapsed. No one was injured. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Woodlawn Hotel / Chestnut Lodge: Maryland Historical Trust State Historic Sites Inventory Form" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 11, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  2. ^ "West Montgomery Avenue Historic District". Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
  3. ^ "The Trolley Era in Rockville, 1900-1935". Peerless Rockville. November 2002. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  4. ^ Frieda Fromm-Reichmann; Gail A. Hornstein (2000). To redeem one person is to redeem the world: the life of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-0-684-82792-6.
  5. ^ Mcglashan, Thomas H. and Fenton, Wayne S. (1998) Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, 1889–1957, Journal of Psychiatry, 155, p123 [1]
  6. ^ McGlashan TH, Carpenter WT (September 2007). "Identifying unmet therapeutic domains in schizophrenia patients: the early contributions of Wayne Fenton from Chestnut Lodge". Schizophr Bull. 33 (5): 1086–92. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbm082. PMC 2632345. PMID 17634414.
  7. ^ a b Mcglashan, T. H. (1984). "The Chestnut Lodge follow-up study. I. Follow-up methodology and study sample". Archives of General Psychiatry. 41 (6): 573–585. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1984.01790170047006. PMID 6428370.
  8. ^ Robert M Young. 'Harold Searles', The Human Nature Review (2005). Retrieved 07 July 2010.
  9. ^ Mcglashan, TH (1986). "The Chestnut Lodge follow-up study. III. Long-term outcome of borderline personalities". Archives of General Psychiatry. 43 (1): 20–30. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1986.01800010022003. PMID 3942471.
  10. ^ Mcglashan, T. H. (1986). "The prediction of outcome in chronic schizophrenia. IV. The Chestnut Lodge follow-up study". Archives of General Psychiatry. 43 (2): 167–176. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1986.01800020077010. PMID 3947211.
  11. ^ Waugaman, Richard (2019). "Chestnut Lodge: An Unreal Place". Contemporary Psychoanalysis. 55 (1–2): 24–44. doi:10.1080/00107530.2019.1569921. S2CID 191870363 – via ResearchGate.
  12. ^ Stanton, Alfred H.; Stanton, Lynne; Schwartz, Morris S. (January 21, 1954). Mental Hospital. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-04493-1.
  13. ^ Packman, Wendy L.; Cabot, Mithran G.; Bongar, Bruce (1994). "Malpractice arising from negligent psychotherapy: ethical, legal, and clinical implications of Osheroff v. Chestnut Lodge". Ethics & Behavior. 4 (3): 175–197. doi:10.1207/s15327019eb0403_1. ISSN 1050-8422. PMID 11652794.
  14. ^ Boodman, Sandra (October 8, 1989). "A Horrible Place, A Wonderful Place". The Washington Post.
  15. ^ Gerald L. Klerman, M.D.: The Psychiatric Patient’s Right to Effective Treatment: Implications of Osheroff v. Chestnut Lodge, reprinted from Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:409–418; published online on 25th Oct. 2022, [[2]]
  16. ^ "CHESTNUT LODGE Trademark of CPC HEALTH CORPORATION - Serial Number 75200738 - Alter". alter.com. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  17. ^ Chief, Sonia Boin Montgomery Bureau. "CPC Health Corp. files bankruptcy". The Frederick News-Post. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "Fox news item about purchase of Chestnut Lodge for Condominiums". Retrieved May 10, 2009.[dead link]
  19. ^ Allison Klein (June 7, 2009). "Historic Rockville Building Destroyed by Fire". washingtonpost.com.

External links[edit]

39°5′5.3″N 77°9′45.5″W / 39.084806°N 77.162639°W / 39.084806; -77.162639

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